After You Cross The Line
by RT4ever
Summary: So what happens after you've crossed every line you ever thought possible and a few you hadn't? A short and complete story about Ric and Alexis. Written before they got together and GH failed us.


Okay so I love love love Ric and I want him to be a good guy, I mean he doesn't need to be a saint, but I liked him during his emotional scenes with or involving Carly, it was like he really didn't want to be doing that, he just couldn't see another way, he was blinded, he was being led by something else and he was helpless to stop it. God I've said it my friends and I'll say it to you, he could be great. Now I made up my own ages for everyone in this story, I know he's like 40, but I think he should be more Brenda/Jason's age, especially because Liz is so young (using soap ages, no idea how old them are in real life) so he's like 30 and Alexis is mid-thirties like Sonny (I know Maurice is over 40, don't care).

Okay so let's place the scene this is right after Carly leaves Alexis, but before Sonny shows up.

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She took a ragged breath before opening the door, she couldn't take anymore, but she knew what was coming.

Sonny was coming, Sonny was coming to take Kristina, he was coming to take her away her entire world.

It wasn't Sonny though when she opened that door, it was his brother. Ric was standing in her doorway and for a brief second she forgot all about Carly and her threats. She resisted the urge to smile at Ric's tousled appearance, his hair longer than usual no longer fell back into place when he'd run his fingers through it while going through files, his tie was undone and coat long since discarded because of the heat.

"Here" he thrust out his hand

She looked down and saw a piece of paper folded in his hand, she took it and opened it and then it took a moment before she realized what she was looking at, proof of Kristina's true paternity. There was no chance of her smiling now "How long have you known?"

"Months"

"So what are you going to do?" She braced herself for the news that he had already told Sonny.

"I gave it to you, that's it."

"It's not like you need a piece of paper to tell Sonny or blackmail me." She said as waved it in the air.

Hurt flashed through his eyes before he had a chance to cover it, "I'm not going to do either, if I do you have my permission to shove me off a balcony."

"If that was supposed to be funny…"

"No actually I hate heights, so it would be the perfect thing to..."

She cut him off, she had no time for any of Ric's banter, not now, "Why not?"

He looked around and suddenly she realized that she was having this discussion with him where anyone could hear.

"Get inside." she said moving from the doorway.

"Why thank you Ms Davis, I'd love to come in."

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She controlled herself from slamming the door and waking Kristina "Explain yourself."

"Alexis I almost sacrificed a child because I hate my brother. Be thankful I apparently still have a soul buried deep down."

"Yes well miracles do happen, now how do I know that your soul isn't going to disappear again."

"If it does you know what to do." he said way too casually for her

"You dead won't do me a lot of good after I've lost everything. I need a guarantee."

He paused and looked at her, his mouth still open from the promise he had been about to make "I can't. Alexis I've crossed every line I thought I'd never cross, all I can tell you is I don't want to hurt you or Kristina, but I can't promise you anything as much as I wish I could, I can't."

She tried to brush off his comment, ignore the honesty coming out in his words for probably the first time, "So what I'm supposed to believe that your fear of heights is going to stop you from telling your brother."

He turned away from her and moved to the couch, he sat down on the arm. She stared at him in confusion as he proceeded to raise his pant leg, he pointed to a faint scar on his calve. "I was five, Luis was eight, he decided to scare me as I walked across the monkey bars. Broke my leg and hated heights ever since, when I was 11 I actually cried on the Ferris wheel."

She swallowed hard "Luis Alcazar?"

He dropped the trouser back down, but continued to sit on sofa, he looked up at her, "I knew him my entire life, I guess he was my best friend." He saw her horrified look and he smiled "Don't worry, I would have shoved him out the window too. He deserved it." He stopped and looked at her some more and realized she needed more of a story, "I put a bullet in between the eyes of the man who took my sister from me, I hunted him down, studied his way of life until I found a way in, the moment I was, I put a bullet in his head. I was 17."

"Is that your biggest secret?"

He smiled and the truth in his smile made her want to take him into her like she did Kristina, "No, it was that I didn't want to do it. 2 years of looking for the guy who took my sister from me, studying his life and when it came down to it, when he was on his knees begging for his life, I wanted to give it to him. I think that was the moment I crossed the line of no return."

"Then why'd you do it?"

"It was Luis or me, he was going to die that day, in my head I was positive that it was what I needed to do. All I'd thought of for two years was killing him, I thought if I did it I'd not only get revenge for her, but I'd save myself."

"It doesn't work." She sat down and he adjusted himself to continue facing her.

"I'm aware of that."

"What was your sister like?"

He laughed "Complete opposite of me." He paused "The complete opposite of me now. I guess the best way to describe her was she was alive. She was just so alive, she made you feel alive." He shook his head "I might be lying though, it might just be that a part of me died with her."

Alexis nodded her head and kept her mouth shut, trying to hold in the sob that threatened to escape.

"Mommy" Kristina's little voice drifted through the air. They both turned to see Kristina walking towards them, she stopped and smiled up at Ric her curls in disarray from sleep and clutching the bunny she couldn't sleep without, "Hi."

"Hey Kristina, did you have a good nap." he asked and Alexis suddenly wondered if all those times he had been nice to Kristina were because he was plotting something.

She nodded, "Juice"

She ignored her thoughts and focused on her daughter, "I'll get you your juice."

She toddled over to Ric, who slid off the couch and hunkered down to her level, he was smiling even though he had no idea what she was saying as she babbled, he caught a word every now and then and repeated it as if trying to piece together a puzzle.

"Here you go sweetheart." Alexis said giving her the juice

"You know sippy cups corrode the back of the front teeth."

"You know toddlers are very clumsy before and after naps." she smiled.

"Save your carpet by ruining your daughter's teeth?"

Alexis continued to smile, she liked him when he was like his, playful without being corrupt and swarmy "Luckily she gets another set."

Kristina smiled as she handed Ric the cup "Fish." she said looking dead at him

"Fish?" He looked around the room, had he missed a tank?

Alexis laughed "Goldfish and cheerios, the snacks of champions."

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She was taking the Goldfish out of the cabinet when she saw Kristina leave her seat at the table and climb over to Ric's lap. She froze as Kristina offered him her drink and Ric pretended to take a sip of it after trying to politely refuse and Kristina not accepting that. So they sat there the three of them looking like a family as Kristina chattered on and fed Ric the goldfish, Alexis almost choked on a cup of coffee when Ric was forced to eat a soggy goldfish after not being able to find a way out of it. She realized as she sat there swiping a fresh fish from Kristina's bowl that she was depriving Kristina of family, of a father, it just wasn't Sonny or Ned who fit into the picture, she suddenly couldn't imagine this scene with anyone else but Ric and how that happened she had no idea.

The knock came and she looked at the door in shock after being jolted out her dream that they were a family, "I'm guessing you're not expecting anyone?" Ric said from across the table.

"No" she said shaking her head and standing up. Then there behind the door was the person she had expected to see an hour ago, it was Sonny. "Why are you here?"

Ric wanted to cheer that finally someone got an even colder response than he did, but in fact he was more annoyed that Sonny was at Alexis' apartment.

"I need" he started then he saw Ric sitting with Kristina over Alexis' shoulder, "What's he doing here?"

"Last time I checked Sonny I didn't need your approval on who visits me."

Ric saw Sonny struggle to keep his thoughts to himself and then he saw the paternity results sitting on the table. "Why don't I take Kristina into her room to play?" he offered. He watched Alexis turn to fight him, but his eyes connected with hers and directed them to the table.

"That would be great thanks." She realized she lucked out as Ric tucked Kristina still holding her cup into his arm and then proceeded to the coffee table where Bun Bun, the stuffed bunny rabbit lay next to the document. "What do you want?" she said to Sonny as Ric approached the table, causing him to divert his eyes for the second Ric needed to grab the paper without drawing attention to it.

Alexis watched as Sonny tried to control his temper as his brother walked out of the room "Sam's in jail, I'm sure Ric's told you that."

"No actually he hadn't. Once more why are you here?"

"She needs a lawyer."

"Isn't Justus your lawyer."

"I want you"

"Well we can't always have everything we want."

"Are you going to risk letting an innocent pregnant woman go to jail?"

"Sonny there are a million lawyers out there."

"Is this because you're sleeping with Ric? He's only doing this because of me."

It didn't even occur to her to say she wasn't sleeping with Ric, she was so outraged, _"_Screwing me or putting your pregnant girlfriend in jail?!"

"Both."

"Well you know what the rumor going around the courthouse is that they've been looking for Sam for a long time and an anonymous tip came in about this."

"Look Sam is innocent."

She cut him off "And Ric is the DA, Ric prosecutes crime that is his job."

"She didn't do it!"

"I don't care! Sonny get out of my apartment, you are not welcome here, you know that."

She didn't resist slamming the door this time and let out a groan as she slumped against it.

"That didn't sound good." Ric said as he walked back into the living room. "Think if I burn this I'll set off your smoke detector?" he said waving the document that almost exposed her before Carly could.

"Probably." she nodded in agreement, "I probably should have avoided pissing off Sonny."

He stopped ripping up the paper and focused his eyes on hers "Pissing off Sonny has seems to become one of my favorite hobbies, so you're going to have to explain. You have any food I can run the garbage disposal with?"

"There's half a cantaloupe in the fridge" she said trying to stay focused on Sonny when Ric was being so entertaining and so very not Ric. "Carly came by today, she's going to tell Sonny about Kristina."

He stopped his walked to the kitchen and she could see his whole body tense.

She felt the need to explain "I told her when I thought we were going to die in the fire."

He walked into the kitchen and dropped the paper into the sink , grabbed the fruit, turned the water on and ran it before he said anything. "Why?"

She collapsed down on to the sofa, "I thought I was going to die" she wrung her hands feeling desperate.

He sat down on the coffee table in front of her and clasped her hands within his own, "No" he said with a shake of his head "I understand that, why would she tell Sonny and why would she tell him now?"

"They're starting over and she wants to be truthful."

He searched his mind for a way to stop Carly and short of kidnapping he couldn't think of one, "I promise you, you won't lose her."

Alexis' mouth trembled the tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

"There's nothing we can do now Alexis, if she tells him then we'll fight him and we'll keep her safe. I promise you."

"Why are you suddenly being so nice?"

"I can't stand seeing you this upset. I'm used to the formidable Alexis Davis, the only one who makes quiver before a case and hey Kristina's my niece, I'm supposed to keep her safe, make sure the little bit of her that's the same as me goes on for future generations."

"What about Morgan and Sam's child?"

"You know about Sam's kid?"

Alexis shook her head and laughed "There is no way in hell Jason would sleep with Sam while she was with Sonny, not to mention Sam is totally the opposite of everyone Jason's ever been involved with."

Ric shrugged his shoulders "Kristina's just different. Now how about we go out and forget all about today?"

"I don't know"

"Come on" he say smiling "You, me, Kristina and the park."

"It's getting close to dinner time."

He drew his brow together "One of those hot dogs probably wouldn't be good for a toddler would it?"

"No" she said smiling with the pain and fear lessening rapidly.

"So we'll go to that new café that opened right on the edge of the park."

"What about Liz?"

"What about her?"

"Isn't she expecting you home for dinner?"

"We decided after Cameron was born to stop trying."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too, but it's for the best and we didn't want to put Cameron through a divorce once he became attached to me or I became any more attached to him. Now come on go put shoes on Kristina and let's stop moping, it won't do either of us any good."

She just nodded, for the first time in a long time she didn't want to put up a fight.


End file.
